counterfeit eclipse glasses, and safe viewing

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AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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10 Aug 2017, 12:01 pm

Quote:

Don't fall for phony eclipse glasses

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dont-fall-f ... e-glasses/

' . . . some eclipse viewer makers are putting ISO labels on their products as they try to cash in on the Aug. 21 total eclipse, the first one visible in the continental U.S. since 1979. Rainbow Symphony owner Mark Margolis told CBS MoneyWatch he has seen an increase of fakes hitting the market. . . '

Yeah, counterfeit products happen all the time. The question is, how to protect yourself.

AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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10 Aug 2017, 12:16 pm

Quote:

https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/iso-certification

' . . . How can you tell if your solar viewer is not safe? You shouldn't be able to see anything through a safe solar filter except the Sun itself or something comparably bright, such as the Sun reflected in a mirror, a sunglint off shiny metal, the hot filament of an unfrosted incandescent light bulb, a bright halogen light bulb, a bright-white LED flashlight (including the one on your smartphone), or an arc-welder's torch. All such sources should appear quite dim through a solar viewer. . . '

' . . . these homemade filters may seem like they dim the Sun to a comfortable level, but that doesn't mean they do so across the whole electromagnetic spectrum. . . '

' . . . What about welding filters? The only ones that are safe for direct viewing of the Sun with your eyes are those of Shade 12 or higher. These are much darker than the filters used for most kinds of welding. If you have an old welder's helmet around the house and are thinking of using it to view the Sun, make sure you know the filter's shade number. If it's less than 12 (and it probably is), don't even think about using it to look at the Sun. Many people find the Sun too bright even in a Shade 12 filter, and some find the Sun too dim in a Shade 14 filter — but Shade 13 filters are uncommon and can be hard to find. . . '

The part which talks about the homemade filters where they might seem like they dim the Sun enough but not across the whole spectrum so you just don't know, is the kind of thing which can feed into my OCD.

And on this one, I want to make a nice, easy, comfortable, middle-of-the-road decision, neither paranoid nor reckless.

AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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15 Aug 2017, 12:02 pm

The top is the real one. The bottom is the fake. And the fake has the exact same ISO number.

" . . . surprise, my 10-pack all have rounded ears, the scarlet letter of phoniness. . . "

The real glasses are from American Paper Optics, which is one of about half a dozen legitimate companies.

Solar-eclipse fever means counterfeit glasses are flooding Amazon’s market
Quartz, Elijah Wolfson
July 27, 2017

https://qz.com/1040159/solar-eclipse-gl ... endations/

=============

This same article says that most of the fakes tested--so far--have provided good enough protection.

AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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15 Aug 2017, 12:49 pm

Quote:

Solar-eclipse fever means counterfeit glasses are flooding Amazon’s market
Quartz, Elijah Wolfson
July 27, 2017

https://qz.com/1040159/solar-eclipse-gl ... endations/

' . . . How much does it matter if you wind up with a pair of glasses that don’t meet NASA safety standards? “All the testing I’ve done have shown that the products are very bright but are not unsafe,” says Lunt. Tests done on a spectrophotometer—a lab-level machine that costs thousands, in case you were wondering if you could check your glasses yourself at home—show that the lenses are, in fact, blocking the most harmful spectra of light. “The IP is getting ripped off, but the good news is there are no long-term harmful effects,” says Lunt. . . '

That is good news, less people at risk. It may not stay that way.

Personally, I'm leaning toward the option of quick glances, whatever protection I'm able to find.

leejosepho
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15 Aug 2017, 12:50 pm

Quote:

...goggles made for electric arc welding can be used to observe the sun, [but] they must have a shade scale number of 12 or higher. Shade 13 is ideal for solar viewing, but that shade is typically not sold in stores...

https://www.space.com/36941-solar-eclip ... guide.html

https://www.google.com/search?q=welding+lense+12

Personally, I plan to use an upside-down binocular to project the image onto a paper "screen" so I never have to look directly at the eclipse at all...

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/bin ... ector.html

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AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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20 Aug 2017, 2:35 pm

or just make a pinhole in one piece of paper and project the sun onto a second piece of paper about a foot behind it?

AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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20 Aug 2017, 3:34 pm

Quote:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... cd4b3a1ca8

At the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the physics department handed out nearly 500 pairs of eclipse glasses before being notified Thursday that the items might not be safe.

And this is a university physics department. Just shows that anyone can struggle and make a mistake with a one-time purchase.

It strikes me that a compromise position, even with eye protection you're pretty confident in, might be taking a 1 second glance at the sun. And then maybe look away for a half minute or so.

The issue is that the eye's retina does not have pain receptors. So, lousy protection may seemingly reduce brightness to acceptable levels, but may or may not do with the whole spectrum including ultraviolet and infrared light.

And if someone has a better idea, please pitch it!

Last edited by AardvarkGoodSwimmer on 20 Aug 2017, 3:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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20 Aug 2017, 3:41 pm

duplicate post, sorry

Last edited by AardvarkGoodSwimmer on 20 Aug 2017, 3:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

seaweed
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20 Aug 2017, 3:42 pm

i'm using my old welding helmet
http://www.instructables.com/id/MacGuyv ... lar-Eclip/

AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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20 Aug 2017, 3:51 pm

one of the above says welding glass needs to be 12 or above

seaweed
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20 Aug 2017, 3:55 pm

yep, mine goes to 13. still, i'm not going to stare. just glance compromisingly.

kitesandtrainsandcats
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20 Aug 2017, 4:20 pm

AardvarkGoodSwimmer wrote:

The top is the real one. The bottom is the fake. And the fake has the exact same ISO number.

Quartz by Elijah Wolfson wrote:

No surprise, my 10-pack all have rounded ears, the scarlet letter of phoniness.

https://qz.com/1040159/solar-eclipse-gl ... endations/
I'm not sure of that square is safe versus round is bogus thing, that sounds too simplistic
Heading off to check.
Uh-huh, that's what I thought.
Interesting that the Astronomical Society which is in charge of approving the glasses shows one with round corners.
https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/safe-viewing

And in going through their list of approved vendors both square and round styles are illustrated.

For example, this link is right on the AAS safe glasses page, https://luntsolarsystems.com/product/lu ... es-5-pack/ And they are round.
These are square https://www.eclipseglasses.com/

This vendor has both square and round http://www.prosolareclipse.cc/index.html

I'm calling the article author's square versus round thing bogus.

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AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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02 Sep 2017, 1:49 pm

kitesandtrainsandcats wrote:

I'm calling the article author's square versus round thing bogus.

Thank you for your skepticism and diving in.

The picture is for one particular company: American Paper Optics.

And the most important thing, the 4th post from the top, is that most of the crappy counterfeits are good enough! This is an amazing stroke of good luck. I just don't want to count on it for members of the general public each and every time. So yes, I think this is a good topic for free and wide and open public discussion.

Noca
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02 Sep 2017, 3:37 pm

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/arstechnica ... s/%3famp=1

Lawsuit: Amazon sold eclipse glasses that cause “permanent blindness”

Quote:

A South Carolina couple claims in a proposed federal class-action lawsuit that Amazon sold defective eclipse-watching glasses that partially blinded them during the historic coast-to-coast solar eclipse on August 21.

Corey Payne and fiancée Kayla Harris say in their lawsuit that because of the eyewear Payne purchased from Amazon, the couple is now suffering from "blurriness, a central blind spot, increased sensitivity, changes in perception of color, and distorted vision."

I guess these people didn't read this thread nor the emails sent to them by amazon.

AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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21 Sep 2017, 4:26 pm

I wonder if the more decentralized eBay approach woud have worked better?

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